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One week after protégé and businesswoman Rihanna inked a very lucrative deal with LVMH and her Savage x Fenty brand, Sean “Jay-Z” Carter now has his own such partnership with the French international conglomerate. Jigga and his champagne Armand de Brignac, more popularly known by its nickname “Ace of Spades,” have entered into a 50/50 ownership deal as well as a global distribution agreement.

While the financial specifics of the deal have not been disclosed, the most recent valuations of “Ace of Spades” have it anywhere between $250 to $310 million. And prices of the bubbly range from $300 for a bottle of their flagship stuff to their special made Melchizedek running you a cool $200,000.

Jay-Z’s initial acquisition of Armand de Brignac started in 2006. Frederic Rouzaud, then the managing director of luxury champagne Louis Roderer Cristal, made some highly questionable statements about rappers’ affinity for Cristal, which were widely perceived as subtly racist.  And when pressed further about his thoughts on the impact hip-hop’s association with Cristal might have, Rouzaud smugly replied to The Economist, “I’m sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business.” Promptly thereafter, Jay-Z began a boycott of Cristal and launched his own brand.

Talks of a deal between Armand de Brignac and LVMH have been brewing since the summer of 2019, when the rapper hosted a party at his house and invited their company founder and chairman Bernard Arnault and his son, according to the New York Times. And as fate would have it, both Dom Perignon and Krug are owned by LVMH, too.

“Armand de Brignac breaks barriers and reflects contemporary luxury, while preserving the tradition of the Champagne terroirs,” Philippe Schaus, chief executive officer of LVMH’s Moet Hennessy drinks unit, issued in a corporate statement.

“I’m proud to welcome the Arnault family into ours through this partnership that began with Alexandre Arnault and continued with his father [LVMH CEO] Bernard Arnault and Philippe Schaus, at my home in Los Angeles,” Jay-Z said in a separate statement of his own. “It is a partnership that has felt familiar the entire time. We are confident that the sheer power of the Moët Hennessy global distribution framework, its unparalleled portfolio strength, and its long-established track record of excellence in developing luxury brands will give Armand de Brignac the commercial power it needs to grow and flourish even further.”

Show Me What You Got: Jay-Z Sells Half of Ace of Spades Champagne To LVMH  was originally published on cassiuslife.com